Ms. Charli Prather is a proud graduate of Southern Illinois University / Carbondale, Illinois.  She has over 18 years of experience working with patients with chronic illness as well as hospice, teaching at the university level and workshop development for nurses and social workers in hospice and long term care.

Charli has a personal commitment to the caregiver/co-survivor role and feels that the special people providing the day to day care to people with cancer are in need of supportive listening and counseling as they walk through chronic illness on a day to day basis. As a cancer survivor, she understands the uniqueness of each person’s cancer experience. She also volunteers for the Cancer Agencies Network and Lambert Field USO.

 

Associate Program Director, The Wellness Community of Greater Saint Louis

Kevin spent 10 years working with hospice patients,  their caregivers and extended families before opening Ferris Counseling Services: Integrating Mind, Body, Spirit in 2002 - a private practice focused on clients with life-threatening illness, grief, and other issues involving loss and transition.  She also speaks publicly on many topics and teaches and advocates for Financial Wellness as a necessary component to any stress reduction program. The keystone to Kevin’s clinical approach is Mindfulness – utilizing the tools of meditation, guided imagery, and body awareness exercises, among others. Her favorite quote (by Alan Cohen) is: “History is NOT Destiny...”

Kathy Bearman, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is also a Certified Gestalt Therapist.  She has completed additional training in the field of Psycho-Spirituality in Gestalt therapy, as well as  Transformational Imagery.  She has provided individual and group psychotherapeutic services at organizations such as  Kids In the Middle,  St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, St. Mary’s Hospital, and St. Peters Hospital Stress Unit, where her experience included designing and implementing the Expressive Arts Therapy program.  In addition to facilitating groups at The Wellness Community, she works with individuals, couples and families in her private practice. Ms. Bearman also enjoys teaching and playing jazz piano, performing in various public and private settings in the St. Louis area.  She often incorporates music in her work with clients, using music therapy techniques, relaxation training, meditation, and imagery. She is currently developing a program of original music for a relaxation and guided imagery CD. She facilitates the Breast Cancer Monthly Networking Group, the Lung Cancer Networking Group, HER2 Positive Breast Cancer Sisterhood Support Group, and the Wellness Lecture Series at The Wellness Community.

Brian Coady is a Gestalt-trained clinical social worker with experience in Hospice, grief work, sexual offenders, individual and group counseling.  He facilitates a weekly participant group at The Wellness Community.

John Eschen has been a group facilitator at The Wellness Community of Greater St. Louis since 1995.  As a Licensed Professional Counselor,  he works with individuals, couples and families in his private practice in Olivette, MO.  He facilitates several weekly Participant Support Groups at The Wellness Community and the Brain Tumor Networking Group.

 

Jeff has a private psychotherapy practice in the Central West End, where he sees individuals, couples and families.  His specializes in grief and loss; caregiver stress; and depression and anxiety resulting from long-term illnesses.

Jeff graduated from Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work with an MSW degree (emphasis in gerontology and mental health) in 1992.  He completed the Advanced Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy program at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute in 2002.  He joined the staff of The Wellness Community of St. Louis in early 2007.  He facilitates the Cancer Bereavement Support Groups and the Ann Arenberg Pancreatic Cancer Monthly Networking Group at The Wellness Community.

 

 Karen Tripp earned a BA in Psychology from Florida State University and went on to graduate school at the University of Miami where Marriage and Family Therapy developed from a major into a passion. By graduation, she had just begun to sense the power that words can have to heal those in need. While establishing clinical practices in South Florida, greater Chicago and Southern California, Tripp developed public speaking as an essential component of her career.

Today, Karen thrives on sharing her unique perspective through counseling, speaking, and writing.
Karen is the Program Facilitator at The Wellness Community. She also facilitates the Cope by Faith Support Groups.